Line 6 Bass POD Pro User Manual

Pilot’s Handbook

An in-depth exploration of the revolutionary technologies and pulsing tonal pleasures that power your Bass POD Pro, plus the insider information on its optional companion Line 6 foot controllers – the

Floor Board

and

FB4

Electrophonic version available at www.line6.com and on accompanying CD. Revision A.

PRO

THE BASS RECORDING & LIVE SOUND SOLUTION

BASS POD

DIGITAL SYNC

44.1KHz 48 KHz EXTERNAL

S/H

19 18

DANISH DRIVER

BASS SYNTH

S/H + DRIVER

S/H + FLANGER

12' s

TRON UP

TRON DOWN

GRAY FLANGER

ORANGE PHASE

CABS

AND EQ

MIDI

TO D.I.

APPLY FX

TUNER

MANUAL SAVE

BRIT CLASS A

SILVER PANEL

BRIT SUPER

BRIT MAJOR

LINE INPUT BASS INPUT

LARGE PIE

PIG FOOT

RODENT

BYPASS

(CAB SELECT)

10' s

OCTAVE DOWN

ANALOG CHORUS

DANISH CHORUS

TWEAKCOMPRESS

EFFECT

VOLUME

CHANNEL

15 16 17

MOTOR CITY

FLIP TOP

DRIVE BASS MIDDLE TREBLE OUTPUT

SUB DUB

INPUT CLIP

SIGNAL

EFFECT SETUPS

Effect Tweak Notes

Bypass n/a Turns off the effects

Octave Down Mix modeled after Boss OC-2

Analog Chorus Range of choruses modeled after Roland CE-1

(MIDDLE SWEEP)(FX LO-CUT)(EQ)(DIG OUT LEVEL) (EQ) (NOISE GATE)(EQ)(CABS AND EQ FUNCTIONS)

010010

Eden “David” 4x10

Cabinet Model Based on:

Cabs with 10" Speakers 1979 Ampeg SVT 8X10 Cab

SWR “Goliath II” 4x10

010 010

30Hz 8 KHz OFF 1 KHz+12 OFF ON+0 B +24 B -

CAB MODELS

Danish Chorus Range of choruses modeled after t.c. electronics Chorus/Flanger

Orange Phase Speed modeled after MXR Phase 90

Gray Flanger Range of choruses modeled after MXR Flanger

Tron Down Filter Peak modeled after Mu-Tron III in the “down” position

Tron Up Filter Peak modeled after Mu-Tron III in the “up” position

S/H Speed modeled after Oberheim Voltage Controlled Filter (sample & hold effect)

Hartke 4x10

1968 Marshall 4x12 with “pre-Rola” 25’s

Polytone 1x15 closed back combo

Vox AC-100 2x15

Cabs with 12" Speakers 60’s Versatone Pan-O-Flex 1x12

Cabs with 15" Speakers Ampeg B-15 1x15 closed back combo

S/H + Flanger S/H Speed Sample & Hold meets the Gray Flanger

S/H + Driver S/H Speed Sample & Hold meets the Danish Driver

Bass Synth Decay Inspired by the Boss Bass Synth plus a little extra attitude

Danish Driver Distortion modeled after t.c. electronics Booster Line Driver + Distortion

Large Pie Distortion modeled after Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi

Pig Foot Distortion modeled after Hogs Foot

Rodent Distortion modeled after Pro-co Rat

Mesa/Boogie 2x15 (front loaded and front ported)

Fender Bassman 2x15 with JBL’s

1969 Marshall Major 4x15 cab (Yeah, Baby!)

Sunn Coliseum 8028 cab (1x18 + 1x12)

Acoustic 360 cab (1x18 in special folded horn enclosure)

Cabs with 18" Speakers SWR 1x18

25 2627

AMP MODELS EFFECTS / CABS

BASS POD PRO FRONT PANEL

REDUCED SIZE BACK COVER FOLDOUT FOR ELECTROPHONIC PILOT'S GUIDE

ROCK CLASSIC

AMP 360

STADIUM

EIGHTIES

POWER

CALIFORNIA

JAZZ TONE

ADAM & EVE

TUBE PREAMP

SESSION

PHONES BASS INPUT

4 2

AMP MODELS

Amp Model Based on:

Session 1987 SWR SM-400

California 1989 Mesa/Boogie Bass 400+

Jazz Tone 70’s Polytone Mini Brute

Adam & Eve Eden WT-300 (The Traveller)

Eighties Gallien-Krueger 800RB

Staduim Sunn Coliseum 300

Amp 360 Acoustic 360

Rock Classic 1974 Ampeg SVT

Brit Major 1969 Marshall Major

Brit Super 1968 Marshall Super Bass “Plexi”

SIlver Panel 1967 Fender “Silverface” Bassman Amp

Brit Class A 1965 Vox AC-100

Motor City 60’s Versatone Pan-O-Flex

Flip Top 60’s Ampeg B-15

Sub Dub When it's time to get ultra-low....

Tube Preamp Tube-based instrument preamp

FLEXTONE: TAP LIT BUTTON FOR TAP TEMPO / HOLD LIT BUTTON FOR MANUAL

* Fender, Marshall, Vox, and other amplifier and effect models are all trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Line 6. These trademarks of other manufacturers are used solely for the purpose of describing certain amplifier and effect tones produced using Line 6's modeling technology.

Line 6's modeling technology provides POD with a wide variety of sounds and effects modeled after some of the most popular sounds of these classic amps. Line 6, POD, Bass POD, Floor Board, the Line 6 logo, the POD logo, and the Bass POD logo are trademarks of Line 6, Inc.

More great sounds for your Bass POD will soon be available at www.line6.com

Working Man – Rock Classic with Compression (a la Working Man by Rush)

Hip Hop – Sub Dub with 1X18 Cab and Compression (a la Massive Attack and Dr. Dre) C Synth – Tube Preamp with Bass Synth and Compression D R&B – Motor City with Compression

BANK 1BANK 2BANK 3BANK 4BANK 5BANK 6BANK 7BANK 8BANK 9

A Sleepless In Seattle – Silver Face with heavy Analog Chorus (a la Come As You Are by Nirvana) B Major Sunshine – Brit Major, 4X12 Cab and Octave Down (a la Sunshine of Your Love by Cream) C Brit Super – with Compression (a la Fire by Jimi Hendrix) D Funk – with Tron Down and Compression (a la Bootsy Collins)

A Session – with light Compression and Danish Chorus B Wicked Garden – Adam & Eve with Gray Flanger and Compression (a la Tool) C Deep Goo – Flip Top with cab modeled after Versatone 1X12 plus S/H + Driver with Compression D Chili – California with Tron Up and Compression (a la Higher Ground by Red Hot Chili Peppers)

A Eighties – with Danish Chorus (the sound of 80’s Metal) B Stadium – with full Large Pie (a la Smashing Pumpkins) C Class Trip – Brit Class A with Compression (a la Day Tripper by The Beatles) D Major Jones – Brit Major w/ mid boost and Compression (a la Whole Lotta Love by John Paul Jones)

A Growling Mids – Rock Classic with mid boost and Compression (a la New Year's Day by U2) B Mean Motor City – Motor City with everything on 10 C Sub Dub Fuzz – with full Drive and Compression D Moody Monk – Jazz Tone with light Analog Chorus (a la Monk's Mood by Thelonious Monk)

A Rock Classic – modeled after a 1974 Ampeg SVT B Brit Major – modeled after a 1969 Marshall Major C Brit Super – modeled after a 1968 Marshall Super Bass “Plexi” D Silver Panel – modeled after a 1967 Fender Bassman Head

A Brit Class A – modeled after a 1965 Vox AC-100 B Motor City – modeled after a 60’s Versatone Pan-O-Flex C Flip Top – modeled after a 1960’s Ampeg B-15 D Sub Dub – Lo-fi goodness perfect for Electronica, Dance, Hip Hop and more...

A Tube Preamp – for direct recording of non-bass instruments B Session – modeled after an SWR SM-400 C California – modeled after a Mesa Boogie Bass 400+ D Jazz Tone – modeled after a Polytone Mini Brute

A Adam & Eve – modeled after an Eden Traveler WT-300 B Eighties – modeled after a Gallien Krueger 800 RB C Stadium – modeled after a Sunn Coliseum

Fender, Marshall, Vox, and other amplifier model designations, and the names of musical artists, song titles and

groups, and effects, are all trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with

Line 6. These marks and names are used solely for the purpose of describing certain amplifier tones produced using

Line 6’s modeling technology. The Line 6 modeling technology provides Bass POD with a wide variety of sounds and

effects modeled after some of the most popular sounds of the classic amps, effects, and artists mentioned here.

D Amp 360 – modeled after an Acoustic 360

Rev A

The serial number can be found on the back panel of your Bass POD Pro. Please note it here for future reference:

SERIAL NO:

WARNING:

electric shock, do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture.

CAUTION:

pursuant to Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

The lightning symbol within a triangle means “electrical caution!” It indicates the presence of information about operating voltage and potential risks of electrical shock.

Bass POD Pro Pilot’s Handbook © 2000, Line 6, Inc. Line 6, POD, POD Pro, Bass POD, Bass POD Pro, Flextone, Floor Board, FB4, AX2, and Amp Farm are trademarks of Line 6, Inc. All other product trademarks are property of their respective owners.

YOU

To reduce the risk of ﬁre or

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device

CAUTION:

do not remove screws. No user-serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualiﬁed service personnel.

To reduce the risk of ﬁre or electric shock,

The exclamation point within a triangle means “caution!” Please read the information next to all caution signs.

SHOULD READ THESE IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

EEP THESE INSTRUCTIONS IN A SAFE PLACE

Before using your Bass POD Pro, be sure to carefully read the applicable

items of these operating instructions and the safety suggestions.

1. Obey all warnings on the Bass POD Pro and in this Pilot’s Handbook.

2. Do not place near heat sources, such as radiators, heat registers, or appliances which produce heat.

4. Guard against objects or liquids entering the enclosure.

5. Connect only to AC power outlets rated 100-120V or 230V 47-63Hz (depending on the voltage range of the unit; refer to the back panel). Current ratings should be 400mA for the 120V range and 200mA for the 230V range.

6. Do not step on power cords. Do not place items on top of power cords so that they are pinched or leaned on. Pay particular attention to the cord at the plug end and the point where it connects to the amp.

7. Unplug your Bass POD Pro when not in use for extended periods of time.

8. Do not perform service operations beyond those described in the Bass POD Pro Pilot’s Handbook. In the following circumstances, repairs should be performed only by qualiﬁed service personnel:

•liquid is spilled into the unit

•an object falls into the unit

•the unit does not operate normally or changes in performance in a signiﬁcant way

•the fuse is blown (replace with 400mA timed fuse for 120V, and 200mA timed fuse for 230V)

•the unit is dropped or the enclosure is damaged

9. Prolonged listening at high volume levels may cause irreparable hearing loss and/or damage. Always be sure to practice “safe listening.”

CHAPTER 1: Q

UICK START GUIDE

ANUAL

? I DON’T N

Register and Get Great Free Stuff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•1

Get On-line: Line 6 Internet Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•2

NTRODUCTION

Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•3

Amp & Cab Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•4

There’s Magic in the A.I.R.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•5

Let’s Go Out: Model and D.I. Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•7

ToneTransfer: POD Sound Exchange and Web Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•7

CHAPTER 2: C

Front Panel Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2•1

Rear Panel Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2•10

CHAPTER 3: S

Live/Studio Mode Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3•1

Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3•1

Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3•2

Re-Amping and Processing Line Level and Non-Bass Signals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3•7

Radiation Alert: Hum Induced by Computer Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3•9

EED NO STINKING

: W

ELCOME THE

ONTROLS

ETTING UP IN THE STUDIO

& C

POD...

ONNECTIONS

ANUAL

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1•1

CHAPTER 4: L

Live/Studio Mode Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4•1

Inputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4•1

Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4•2

Voicing of the 1/4 Model Out in Live Mode: Tuning POD for your Speaker Cabinets . . 4•5

Pedal Power: Foot Control Options for POD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4•6

POD Takes Over: Using POD as a Front-End for Another Bass Ampliﬁer. . . . . . . . . . . . 4•7

CHAPTER 5: M

IVE SETUPS

ODELED AMPS

& C

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5•1

ABS

CHAPTER 6: B

Deep Editing: Where to Look for More Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•1

POD Onboard Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•1

Compressor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•2

Octave Down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•2

Analog Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•3

Danish Chorus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•3

Orange Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•3

Gray Flanger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•3

Tron Down & Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•4

S & H . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•4

S & H + Flanger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•4

S & H + Danish Driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•4

Bass Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•4

Danish Driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•5

Large Pie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•5

Pig Foot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•5

Rodent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6•5

ASS

POD E

FFECTS

CHAPTER 7: C

Using the Manual Mode Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•1

Using the Channel Program Memories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•1

ToneTransfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•2

POD Sounds on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•2

Swapping POD Channels with Friends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•2

Edit Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•3

Customizing Amp Models and Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•4

Activating Customization Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7•6

Memory Reset: Returning your POD to its Factory-Programmed State of Mind . . . . . . . 7•7

CHAPTER 8: T

Floor Board: The Full-Featured POD Foot Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•1

Getting Connected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•1

Effect On/Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•2

Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•2

Channel Select . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•2

Manual Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•3

Editing and Saving POD Channels with the Floor Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•3

Tap Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•4

REATING

HAT’S USING YOUR FEET

& S

TORING PROGRAMS

CHAPTER 8: T

HAT’S USING YOUR FEET (CONTINUED

)

Tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•4

Wah Pedal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•5

Volume Pedal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•5

Effect On/Off Setting Stored with Programmed Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•6

FB4: Simple Foot Control for POD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8•7

CHAPTER 9: D

MIDI Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•1

What’s MIDI? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•1

MIDI In/Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•1

MIDI Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•2

MIDI Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•2

Transferring Sounds Between Bass PODs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•4

Transferring All Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•4

Transferring Some Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•4

Backing Up POD Programs to Other Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•5

Transferring All Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•5

Transferring Some Sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•5

Emagic SoundDiver Software for Deep Editing and ToneTransfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•6

Other Things You Can Do with MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•7

Changing POD Channels with MIDI Program Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•7

Tweaking POD Tones with MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•7

Full MIDI Automation of POD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•7

Step-By-Step With SoundDiver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•9

SoundDiver Setup Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•14

EEP EDITING

& MIDI C

ONTROL

MIDI Program Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•2

MIDI Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•2

MIDI Sysex Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9•3

APPENDIX

A: Amp & Cab Models and Associated Parameters B: Effect Parameters: Tapping, Tweaking & More C: MIDI Program Changes D: MIDI Controls E: Line 6 Contact: Customer Service & Other Line 6 Products F: Warranty Info & Instructions for Obtaining Factory Service

UICK START GUIDE

“M

ANUAL

DON’T NEED NO STINKING MANUAL

? I

!”

UICK

“M

ANUAL

1. If you’re using your POD for recording, set the rear panel LIVE/ STUDIO switch to ‘STUDIO,’ and connect POD’s 1/4 inch or XLR outputs to your mixer or recorder inputs, or connect headphones.

2. If you’re using your POD as a preamp into a power amp and speaker cab(s), set the rear panel L connect POD’s 1/4 inch Model output (not the XLR output) to your amp inputs.

3. Connect your bass to the B switch above the jack to ‘BASS INPUT.’

4. Connect the rear panel P switch to ﬁre up. (Keep the volume down on your amp or mixer in case of audible pops at POD’s outputs during power up).

5. Select an A

6. Set the C to your heart’s desire. OUTPUT LEVEL sets output level. (Clever!)

7. Pick an E COMPRESS LEVEL so you’re happy with the sound.

8. Browse the pre-programmed settings using the U Or press the MANUAL button for a “Manual Override” that gives you where-the-knobs-are-is-how-it-sounds operation.

9. What number 9? You’re already up and running!

TART

? I

DON’T NEED NO STINKING

MP MODEL.

HANNEL VOLUME to max and the BASS, MID, and TREBLE

FFECTS setting and adjust the EFFECT TWEAK and

UIDE

or:

IVE/STUDIO switch to ‘LIVE,’ and

ASS INPUT JACK and set the toggle

OWER and ﬂip the front panel POWER

P/DOWN arrows.

1 • 1

MANUAL!”

But wait, before you go any further, ﬂip to the inside back cover of this manual and notice that it folds out. The idea is to have this handy pictorial reference always opened out while you’re thumbing through the manual. If you photocopy the back of it, you’ll have a handy template for making a note of your favorite POD

settings. Now then, before you run off....

REGISTER AND GET GREAT FREE STUFF!

Included in this manual is a handy, postage-paid card for you to send back to us to register your purchase, and let us know a little about yourself. It is

very important

QUICK START GUIDE: GET ON-LINE

1 • 2

that you ﬁll that registration card out right now, and send it to us in the mail or jump on the internet and register at the Line 6 Support Center – www.line6.com.

How come? Well, for one thing, it gets you all set up for warranty service should you ever have a problem with your POD. (Warranty info is at the end of this manual.) It also ensures that we will be able to contact you if new software versions or other enhancements are offered – cutting edge technology and all that.

GET ON-LINE

Here at Line 6, our mission is to bring powerful new technologies to musicians. As part of that mission, we focus great effort on making the Internet a valuable resource for every one of our customers. You may already have surfed the Line 6 site at http://www.line6.com when you were considering your purchase, and found all the information already there on Line 6 products and technologies.

The Line 6 web site is one of the most effective ways for us to bring you what you need. Through the Internet, we can give you instant access to all kinds of great, free stuff to make you and your POD ever more powerful. Like a powerful help library staffed by our helpful product support experts, handy tips & tricks, electronic versions of this and other documentation, the latest news of what’s

happening with Line 6 and the products we make for you, and....

Line 6 ToneTransfer and Discussion Forums: Visit the web site, and you’ll ﬁnd a powerful way to connect to other POD and Flextone II users. Swap sounds, get and give advice, and generally hang out and get POD-a-licious, all from the privacy of your own comfy computer chair!

Already on the Internet? Great! Visit us often and check out the late-breaking news and the other resources there. Not on the Internet yet? This may be the time to make the big jump, and thereby ensure that you will get all the great resources we can offer for you and your POD.

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME THE POD...

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME THE POD...

Thank you for inviting a POD home with you. Whether you use your POD as a direct recording miracle, a stomp box on steroids, for practice, or as a creative digital signal processing tool – and heck, why should it be just one? – we think you’ll agree that POD is about the most amazing thing to happen to electric bass since the addition of a low B-string. POD mines the tonal heritage of the past forty years of bass ampliﬁer design and matches it up with the kind of digital signal processing magic that will still be ahead of its time in the next century.

How does POD help you create tone that is out of this world, and then get that tone wherever you need it? Easy! It’s…

MODELING

Modeling: just what is it, and why is it so important? (By the way, you sent in that registration card or did it on the web, right? OK, just checking.)

1 • 3

At its most basic, modeling means making a software-based system that delivers the same experience as a traditional system based on physical electronics, wood, and all the rest. Line 6 makes software that captures the heart and soul of the components of classic amp and cabinet designs, and delivers that tonal heritage to

you in your POD. It all got started a while ago in a Los Angeles laboratory....

The engineers at Line 6, being an adventurous lot, and totally pumped about this whole tone thing as well, decided to stock up on the coffee, bust out the engineering equipment, and get down to learning everything there is to know about classic amp and speaker cabinet designs. Riding high on the caffeine wave, they began a three-year project to analyze and map out exactly how different types of tubes, other electronics, and cabinets respond under various conditions typical of ampliﬁer design. How the amps process an input signal, how the signal is colored and shaped, at what point it begins to distort, the quality and

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME THE POD...

1 • 4

characteristic of the distortion, the important role speaker cabinets play in communicating great tone – complicated stuff, but all analyzable as electronic data. A guitar or bass pickup output, after all, is an electronic signal, and tubes and the rest of the system are really just a complex form of signal processing.

Having sussed it all out, the Line 6 engineers were then able to apply their digital expertise to develop software which simulates the signal processing of the tubes and other electronics, as well as the speaker cabinets, entirely within the digital domain. Cool, huh?

This revolutionary DSP (digital signal processing) software-based modeling technology gives Line 6 the power to create super silicon-based life forms like POD: a tonally mind-blowing, multi-FX packed, shiny wonder box with ultimate

ﬂexibility for creating awesome tone....

AMP & CAB MODELS

This modeling know-how allowed Line 6 to create software Amp and Cab Models modeled after a collection of ampliﬁers and speaker cabinets recognized by players the world over as true “tone classics.” We got these amps and cabs together, cranked ’em up, and had a look at the electronic data generated by the tubes, transformers, capacitors, plate and grid voltages, tone control curves – and the whole mess of components and elements unique to each ampliﬁer design. This research led to the creation of Line 6’s software Amp and Cab Models. These models were tweaked up through careful, scientiﬁc A/B comparisons to the gear that inspired them, with an ear open for the effects of different volume levels and settings of the originals’ tone and gain controls. The gain and equalization characteristics of the modeled amps were carefully measured so that changes to amp knobs on the models would mirror the effects of these changes on the originals as closely as possible. We’re talkin’ major attention to detail here. Tone control center frequencies, slopes, and cut/boost range were painstakingly analyzed, and we also carefully attended to the effect of presence switches, “bright” channels, and other model-speciﬁc factors. Not only that, but since these old amps have highly interactive circuits, we paid careful attention to the way that the setting of one knob changes the way that another knob on the amp behaves.

All in an effort to make our Amp and Cab Models as much like the amps and cabs we modeled as possible.

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME THE POD...

The resulting Amp and Cab Models are the foundation of your POD. Now, then – here are a couple of things we want to be completely crystal clear on:

1. The Line 6 modeling process is a patented, 100% digital software-based

technology exclusive to Line 6.

2. Line 6 Modeling is not sampling, nor is it solid state; no special bass, pickup,

or cabling is needed.

THERE’S MAGIC IN THE A.I.R.

POD delivers its modeling tones through another innovation: Line 6's A.I.R. direct recording output. The A.I.R. (acoustically integrated recording) technology is the result of intensive research and careful study of the tonal characteristics produced by the interaction of ampliﬁers, cabinets, speakers, microphones and the recording room during the recording process.

The direct output of many preamps, ampliﬁers and direct box-style amp replacements available today offer some limited form of cabinet simulation or speaker emulation. Those that happen to be more than simple high end roll offs have little or no control options. These cabinet simulations cannot reproduce the markedly different tones of different cabinets which arise from the choice of speakers, wood, and other design elements. They also fail to reproduce the signiﬁcant tonal contribution of microphone selection and placement, and do nothing to reproduce the subtle ambience of the recording space.

1 • 5

The result is the familiar dissatisfaction with direct recording products – even those that deliver a reasonably usable basic tone fail to reproduce the “life” of the sound, and destroy the proper feel in the process. Your sound lost its magic.

POD's combination of Amp Models and A.I.R. technology provides superior direct tones by recreating all the elements contributing to a great recorded bass sound, and giving you that tone with the same feel as playing through a classic amp and speaker cabinet:

• The effect of the ampliﬁer electronics is emulated by the Amp Model you

choose. Each model was developed from extensive study of a classic ampliﬁer treasured as a tone classic.

• In a bass amp, once the signal passes through the electronics, it is output to one

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME THE POD...

1 • 6

or more speakers in a speaker cabinet. The speciﬁc design of the speakers, how many there are, and how they are arranged contributes signiﬁcantly to your tone, as does the construction and resulting tone of the wood box itself. An Ampeg SVT head driving a cabinet with a single 15-inch speaker, for instance, will sound dramatically different from the same head driving an 8x10 cabinet, or a cabinet that combines various speakers and a horn. Line 6 has carefully constructed virtual software speaker cabinets that emulate the contribution made by real speaker cabinets in the quest for great bass sound.

• Once the sound makes it out of the speaker cabinet, the next important link in the recording system is the microphone that receives that sound. Bass recordists select different microphones, and arrange them in different placements, to get particular sounds. A microphone pointing directly into the cone of a speaker will hear something different than one positioned off-axis. Line 6 carefully analyzed the coloring that standard microphones add to the sound, as well as the effects of different mic placement techniques, and developed a set of cabinet simulations that give you the tone of great speaker cabinet and microphone combinations.

• The amp, cabinet, and microphone don't just sit in empty space. The room that they are in contributes importantly to the sound you will record. Reverb can be used to capture the basic character of the space, simulating the effect of the sound reﬂecting off the room's walls, ﬂoors and ceiling. But there are other subtle details that have more to do with the “spread” of the sound as it passes through the air between the speaker and microphone. This ﬁnal component is the key to the sense that the listener is in one position in the room, and the sound is in another position, and that the two are separated by a mass of air that sound spreads through to reach the listener.

All of these important sound-shaping components are accounted for in your POD. Turn the Amp Model knob to call up the ampliﬁer emulation you want. POD automatically matches that ampliﬁer with an appropriate cabinet and microphone setup, and gives you the sound of that setup coming through the air of a recording space. You can add effects to taste, and start recording incredible mic'd up sound. The included SoundDiver MIDI-control software lets you use a Macintosh or Windows computer to do “deep editing” of these and other POD parameters. With it, you can design your own custom rig, making new combinations of Amp Model and cabinet/microphone emulation, and adjusting the contribution of the “spread” of the sound as well.

INTRODUCTION: WELCOME THE POD...

LET’S GO OUT...

While doing the research for your POD, we asked leading bass players and recording engineers what’s the best way to record great bass tone. Their answer was clear: You need two tracks, one for the mic’d up amp, and another for a high quality direct input from the bass. That’s why your POD has two distinctly different outputs – both serve up great tone, each with its own purpose. Be sure to get all of the juicy details in Chapter 3.

TONETRANSFER

With your POD, you get a constantly-expanding universe of sounds. We created a ToneTransfer Web Library for the original guitar POD at www.line6.com – searchable by artist, musical style, and more. Look for a Bass POD ToneTransfer library as well, where you’ll be able to grab great sounds or post your own. The sounds you collect transfer seamlessly between Bass PODs and any Macintosh or Windows based computer – so wherever you go, all your sounds can make the trip.

AND AWAY WE GO....

1 • 7

So, now that you know what’s in store, it’s time to experience POD for yourself. Grab your favorite axe, plug in to POD, and ﬂip back to the handy Quick Start Guide on the ﬁrst page of this chapter if you haven’t already been through that.

Then, press ahead to the POD Grand Tour....

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

If you haven’t already done so, turn to the inside back cover of this manual and notice that it folds out. Ooh, pretty pictures! The idea is to have this essential pictorial reference always opened out while you’re thumbing through the manual. And if you photocopy the back of it, you’ll have a handy template for making a note of your favorite settings. The boxed numbers that pop up throughout the manual correspond to the numbers on the foldout’s illustrations.

Power Switch - Left side of front panel. Flip to bring your POD to life.

Bass Input - Right side of front panel. Plug your bass in here. (You techies

will want to know this is a mono, unbalanced connection). There is also a line level input on the back for use when you are re-amping (processing tracks playing back from tape or disk), or when you are processing non-bass line level sources. This is also great for the line level output from many wireless systems. Make sure you set the...

2 • 1

Input Select Switch - Right side of front panel. This switch selects

either the front panel Bass Input or the rear panel Line Input. Pick one.

Phones - Left side of front panel. Plug in your headphones here for silent

practicing. Volume’s set by the Output Level knob. The headphone ampliﬁer is designed to provide hot signals for a variety of headphones. As a result, you can get very loud output from this connector. Be sure to set levels carefully so you don’t blow your head off when listening to your POD through your phones.

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

Output - Far right knob in the “knob trench.” Controls the overall output

level of POD. Also sets the headphone level. This setting is not saved when you store settings into one of the POD’s memory locations. Changing the Output level

2 • 2

does not change your tone. So you can get the tone you want at any volume level.

POD will give the best signal-to-noise ratio performance when you have the Output level control at max. With the Output level control turned down low, you may get extra hiss that obviously ain’t what you want. In order to allow you to set the Output level as high as possible with recording, mixing, and other studio gear, be sure you are plugging POD’s outputs into line level, not microphone or instrument level inputs, when you have Studio Mode selected (via the rear panel switch described in the following pages). Line level inputs should allow you to turn POD’s Output level up all the way (or close to it) and thereby get the best sound possible. If your gear has inputs that function as mic/line level inputs, start by setting the trim for those inputs to the minimum level, and set POD’s Output to max, when setting levels.

Manual Button - In the middle of your POD. Press this button to light it

and activate “Manual” Mode. In this mode, wherever the knobs are set is what

you’re hearing. Move knobs around to change sounds. Or....

Channel Up/Down Buttons - To the left of the Manual button.

POD has 36 channel locations (POD is like a 36-channel amp) that store a huge variety of complete amp-and-effect selections pre-programmed by the tone mavens at Line 6 to rock your world. They are arranged in nine banks of four channels each. (The four are called A, B, C, and D.) You can think of each bank as a sort of virtual four-channel bass amp – and you’ll ﬁnd that the same layout is used on the optional Line 6 foot controllers for POD (the Floor Board and FB4) which are discussed later in their own chapter.

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

You access POD channels by pressing the Up and Down buttons. Tap either button to move to the next channel in the bank; press and hold down either Up or Down button to jump from bank to bank. The Manual button’s light goes off to let you know you’re not in Manual – the “where-the-knobs-are-is-how-POD-sounds” – Mode anymore. When recalling a channel, its settings will not be reﬂected by the present knob positions – like you may have left the Bass knob at minimum whereas the just-recalled channel has this control set to max. To change anything, just grab the knob you want and tweak. More on all that later.

Amp Models - Top left knob on the POD with words all round it. When

you spin this knob, it’s essentially like changing what electronic “circuitry” is running inside POD to make your amp sound. (Also see Modeled Amps and Cabs in Chapter 4.)

When you choose an Amp Model, a Cabinet Model is also loaded automatically. For instance, when you choose the Rock Classic model (based on the classic Ampeg SVT head), a Cabinet Model based on a AMPEG SVT 8x10 will be loaded with it. You can choose a different cabinet via the Effects/Cab knob (below). In fact, in your Bass POD, all amp-related settings are automatically loaded when you turn the Amp Models knob. Drive, Bass, Mid, Treble, Cab, etc. will all be determined by the Amp Model you choose – giving you a ready-to-rock sound with the turn of just this one knob. Once you get familiar with POD, you can change these Amp-associated settings to customize the settings of each of the Amp Models to ﬁt your tastes. Complete details are coming up in Chapter 7.

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Drive - Far left knob in the “knob trench.” This knob controls how hard

you’re driving the input of the chosen Amp Model. Like the input volume control on a non-master volume bass amp, higher settings give you more “dirt.”

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

Tone Controls - Continuing to the right of the Drive knob... Bass, Middle,

Treble. Just like a regular bass amp, only when you change Amp Models, the response and interactivity of the controls changes, too – to act like the tone

2 • 4

controls of the original amp that inspired the Amp Model you’ve selected.

Chan Vol - This knob controls the relative volume level of the “channel”

you are playing through. Use this to balance levels between the sounds you store in two different POD channels (say between your ﬁnger-style and thumb tones). In general, you want to set the Chan Vol as high as possible to insure you’re getting the best signal-to-noise ratio performance.

Compress - How much compression do you want today? Spin this knob

to set the Compressor level. Since compression plays such a vital role in successfully recording the bass, we’ve included this awesome sounding programmable compressor modeled after the legendary studio compressor, the LA2A. Turn the knob up for more compression; at the minimum knob position, the compressor is turned off. More details in the Effects Chapter.

Effect Tweak - This knob varies the effect you’ve chosen. Turn it up and

the effect will go deeper, louder, faster, longer or just plain more. For all the inside poop, look at the back cover foldout, Appendix B for Effect Parameters, and the Effects chapter. If you set the Effects knob to Bypass, Effect Tweak will, of course, not change anything.

Effects/Cabs - Top right knob on POD with words all round it. This knob

selects which effect or combination of effects you get (once again, all the details on effects are in the POD Effects chapter), and also selects which cab model you’ll be hearing. To choose a Cabinet Model, press the CABS and EQ button ﬁrst, and

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

then turn this knob; the available cabinets are labeled in gray around the knob. Turning the Amp Models knob to choose an Amp Model will automatically select an appropriate cabinet; you can customize this Amp/Cab pairing, as described in Chapter 7.

Tuner - Button in the middle of POD. Press that puppy and – shazam!

Instant digital chromatic tuner. All POD’s Amp Model and effects processing are bypassed so you can hear those questionably-tuned strings clearly, should you choose to do so. Play a note on your bass and POD will show you what it is on that handy single-character display; all notes are displayed as naturals or ﬂats, so you’ll see A instead of G . Play that string you’re trying to tune again, spin its tuning key so it goes sharp and ﬂat, and two little red arrows below the Tuner button will give you a light show. The arrow on the left lights up if you’re ﬂat. The arrow on the right lights if you’re sharp. And both arrows will light at the same time when you’ve got it just right. Give any one of POD’s buttons a push and the tuner disappears just as swiftly as it came and you’re right back to normal POD operation.

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Tuner Volume - You can adjust the tuning volume of your POD by turning the Chan Vol knob while the tuner is active. When you exit tuner, you may need to re-

set this knob to get the right Channel Volume setting. Alternatively, if you have a Floor Board connected, the volume pedal will control the tuner volume, too.

Tuner Reference - Want a different reference than A=440Hz? When you’re in the tuner mode, turn the Middle knob on POD while watching the display. Hey, it changes! You can set the reference frequency anywhere from 436-445 Hz. This setting is stored so you don’t have to reset it every time you turn on POD if you decide you want to be different (or if that piano in your rehearsal room has decided it wants to be different). Since there’s only one digit in the POD display, all we display is the last number, so if you set the tuner to reference 441 Hz, you’ll see “1”.

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

Apply FX to D.I. - This button determines if the juicy effects you’ve

programmed will also be heard on the D.I. output. (They’re always heard on the AMP MODEL output.) More FX details in the POD Effects chapter.

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Cabs and EQ - When this button’s light is ﬂashing, the knobs of your

POD ﬂip into a Clark Kent-style alternate identity, and you are instantly endowed with the following super powers:

Cab Model Select (Effects Knob): Make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then spin the Effects/Cab knob to select any of the 15 modeled bass cabinets, or bypass for no cabinet.

Digital Out Level (Drive Knob): Make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then give the Drive knob a twist to set the level of your Digital Output. At the minimum position, no additional gain is added to the digital out; at the maximum knob setting, 24dB of extra gain is available to insure full range output at the digital output. Be sure not to turn this TOO high, or you’ll quickly be introduced to the joys of digital clipping.

Post-Modeling EQ (Bass, Middle and Treble Knobs): This is an extra parametric-type EQ that can be used to ﬁne tune your POD sounds. Use it to remove resonant frequencies of a particular bass, or to add that “little extra something” to your favorite amp model, or you can choose to simply ignore it. In any case, this is how you get to it: Make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then use the Bass knob to select the EQ Frequency, the Middle knob to select a narrow or broad range of frequencies, and the Treble knob to apply up to +12db of boost, or an inﬁnite amount of cut. Treble at 12 o’clock turns this EQ off.

FX Lo-cut (Chan Vol Knob): Now, here’s one you won’t see on your run-of-themill effects processor. After countless interviews with bass players, we got the picture that effects are cool, but must not mess with the fundamental bass tone. Enter the FX Lo-cut effects crossover. This special feature allows you to send the higher frequencies to the effects, all the while leaving the all important fundamental frequencies untouched and free to be felt and heard without

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

effectiﬁcation. It’s kinda like serving up your main course (the fundamentals), and then adding the secret sauce (the effects) as a seasoning – instead of drowning the whole thing in mayo. Tasty indeed! Make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then spin the Chan Vol knob to set the frequency of the FX Lo-Cut. Turn this knob to minimum for no lo-cut (so your full signal feeds the FX).

Noise Gate (Compress Knob): Your POD includes a built-in noise gate, intended to reduce the hiss and noise amps tend to put out when you’re not playing, especially at high gain settings (since high gain means that noise is turned up along with your awesome sound). To turn the Noise Gate on, make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then turn the Compress knob to the right until it’s past the 1 o’clock position. To turn off the Noise Gate, make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then turn the Compress knob to the left until it’s below the 11 o’clock position.

Mid Frequency Sweep (Effect Tweak Knob): Six of the amps that we modeled for your POD include some kind of “selectable” or “sweepable” mid control. Our models just wouldn’t be right if you couldn’t do the same, so “voilà”– your very own Mid Sweep control! This function only applies to the Adam & Eve, Amp 360, Rock Classic, Session, Stadium, and Sub Dub models. So don’t be calling our lovable customer service folks when it doesn’t work on the Flip Top model, okay? Details of the frequencies that are sweepable can be found with the Amp Model descriptions in the Amp Models chapter. To do the Mid Sweep magic, make sure the Cabs and EQ button’s light is ﬂashing, then give the Effect Tweak knob a twist to dial in the mid frequency of your choice.

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Time Alignment (HOLD Cabs and EQ, turn Chan Vol Knob): We’ve got

one more cool tool and no more knobs left. But fear not – where there’s a will, there’s bound to be some way or other to stumble toward the goal. In this case, we’re giving you a control for adjusting the time alignment of the D.I. output in relation to the Model output. A natural consequence of the EQ, modeled tube, and modeled cabinet and A.I.R. processing is a shift in the phase relationships of various frequencies in the Model output signal. This is just what you’d get out of a physical amp, physical speakers, and sound propagating through a physical recording space. When you combine an unprocessed direct signal with this dynamically shifting processed tone, it helps to have ﬁne control over the time

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

alignment of the two signals to ensure that they will blend in the most effective way. We’ve given you up to 8 milliseconds of offset time for the D.I. to make this ﬁne tuning. In order to access this time alignment adjustment, you have to press,

2 • 8

and keep holding in the Cabs and EQ button, and turn the Chan Vol knob at

the same time. At the minimum knob position, you’ll have no offset of the D.I. versus the model; at the maximum knob position you’ve got the 8 milliseconds. When you release the Cabs and EQ button, the Chan Vol knob will return to it normal life of setting the Channel Volume or adjusting the FX Lo-Cut. The Time Alignment setting, by the way, is speciﬁc to the Channel you are currently using, and it will be saved and recalled when you save and recall a Channel memory, just like the other tone shaping parameters. This way, every one of your sounds can be optimally tuned for the best Model + D.I. sound combination (as we’ve done for you with all those juicy factory presets).

Save - When you want to store your own tweaked-up sounds in your POD,

this button is the key. Exactly how it works is detailed in Chapter 6: Creating & Storing Sounds. But you’re probably impatient, so here are the basics:

When you are using one of the pre-programmed POD sounds, the POD’s singledigit number display will be lit, telling which bank you are in – 1 thru 9 – and one of the channel letters – A thru D – will be lit also. If you turn one of POD’s knobs, you’ll notice the word “EDITED” will be lit to the left of the POD single-digit display. This is a reminder to you that you have tweaked the memorized channel, and that you should save it if you want the memory to remember the tweak. To save your changes, press the Save button . The button will start to ﬂash. Press the Up and Down buttons and you will see that you are switching through memory locations A, B, C, and D in each of POD’s nine numbered banks. Pick one to store your sound in, and press that Save button a second time. The button’s light will stop ﬂashing, and the sound is stored at the location you chose, replacing the sound that was stored there before. Doesn’t get much simpler than that. After the sound is stored, you can bring it back any old time by simply pressing the Up and Down buttons to call up the location where you stored it. (See Chapter 7 to learn how to do all this with your feet on the Floor Board).

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

If you aren’t using one of the pre-programmed POD sounds – you’re in Manual mode, and you’re just getting the sound of where the knobs are set – you can store that state into a memory location the same way. Press Save, use the Up and Down buttons to choose a place to save to, and press Save again. If you decide you don’t want to store the sound after you’ve started saving, press the Manual, Tuner, or MIDI button to cancel the save. (The save will also be canceled if you don’t press any buttons for 5 seconds after having pressed Save.)

You may want to audition the memorized POD “preset” sounds before you start saving anything. Note the ones you can live without as locations you can save over.

The Save button also lets you customize any of the Amp Models and Effects to your own taste, so your customized version of the amp or effect comes up instantly when you turn Amp Models or Effects. See Chapter 7 for the details on that.

MIDI - This button is used to set POD’s MIDI channel and dump sounds

via MIDI. Details are in the Deep Editing & MIDI Control chapter.

2 • 9

REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS

2 • 10

Here’s the part where we go behind-the-scenes of your POD Pro. Looking at the rear panel, we’ll start from the left side:

Line Level Input & Output / “Pre” Effects Loop - The two

jacks illustrated below. These 1/4 inch connectors carry line level signals into and out

of your POD, and run signals that are unbalanced at -10 dBV level. If you want to use the Line Level Input, be sure to set the front panel switch to the Line Input position.

So what can you do with these jacks? Lots of stuff:

Re-Amping – One of the things that made the original POD a valued tone tool was its value in re-amping of bass tracks. Say somebody has already recorded some bass tracks, and you are now mixing them. If the bass seems to need a bit more edge, or some other tone shaping, you can run your outputs from your tape or disk tracks into the POD and make magic. Don’t forget to set

the front panel Input Select switch to the Line Input position.

Hardware Amp Farm – Line 6’s Amp Farm software is sort of like a software POD that runs on a Pro Tools system. One of the things that Amp Farm lets you do is record un-processed instruments to disk, while hearing

REAR PANEL CONNECTIONS

them processed non-destructively by the Amp Farm plug-in software. You hear the sound of the amp simulation as you track, but you haven’t committed it to the recording. (This is much like the way you would handle reverb when recording a vocal; you record naked vocal to the track, while using reverb as you monitor the post-tape/disk signal or a separate feed off the signal before it goes to the track.) The line level in/out on your POD Pro let you do this. Plug the Unprocessed Bass Out into your recorder, and plug the output of that track into the Line Level Input (or feed the line level input via an effect send that gets signal from the recorded track). Now you can hear your POD processing as you track, but you haven’t committed your tone choice to tape. That means you can change from a modeled Marshall to a modeled Ampeg during the mix stage, once you see how your tracks are ﬁtting together. Or you can change Cab Models or any other aspect of your sound.

Don’t forget that you’ll need to set the front panel Input Select switch to the

Line Input position to do the re-amping boogie.

Non-Bass Processing – Another thing people like to do with both POD and Amp Farm is process everything else but basses. Drums, vocals, keyboards, entire mixes – you name it, people are using Line 6 modeling products to process it. The line level input on your Bass POD Pro helps you make the connections to these signals. Don’t forget to set the front panel Input

Select switch to the Line Input position.

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Tuner Output – Want to use a stage tuner with your POD? The

Unprocessed Out is a perfect signal source.

Wireless Connection – Many wireless systems have a line level output. You can plug it into your POD rear panel Line Level Input, and you’re ready to rock. Don’t forget to set the front panel Input Select switch to the Line

Input position.

“Pre” Effects Loop – And, as if that weren’t enough, you also have the option of using these connections as an effects loop. Connect the (Send) to the input of some other effect unit you want to use, and connect that unit’s

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output to the (Return). Your external effect’s processing is now inserted before (“pre”) all your POD’s amp and effect processing. Note that this effect is applied to both Model and the D.I. signals. If you prefer to apply some

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additional effect processing to only the Model and leave the D.I. unaffected, you’ll want to pay attention to the next set of jacks on our back panel tour:

“Post” Effects Loop - These quarter inch -10dBV unbalanced

connections give you an effect send and return so you can patch additional effects into POD’s signal chain. This loop is applied only to the Model output, leaving the D.I. output unaffected by the extra effect processing.

To use this effects loop, just connect the (Send) to the input of the other effect unit you want to use, and connect that other effect unit’s output to the (Return). Your external effect’s processing is now inserted after (“post”) all your POD’s amp and effect processing, for the Model output only. As we mentioned, your D.I. output is not affected by this effect loop. If you have an effect that you want to apply to both the Model and the D.I. signals, you can use the Re-Amping/”Pre” Effect Loop connections.

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Live/Studio Mode, XLR & 1/4 inch Outputs - One of the

powerful features of your POD is its Live/Studio Modes and associated XLR and 1/4 inch connections. We’ve designed these to give you the most versatile bass tool possible, whether you’re going to be in the studio or on stage, recording direct-todisk, or pumping a stadium full of sound through a wall of cabs.

Studio Mode – Flick the Live/Studio switch to the Studio position, and you get a pair of XLR balanced +4dBu outputs, as well as a pair of 1/4 inch unbalanced -10dBV connections. Both carry the same Modeled and D.I. signals – including A.I.R. processing for speaker/mic/room emulation – and you can use whichever connections are most appropriate for interfacing with your recording gear.

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Live Mode – Move the Live/Studio switch to the Live position, and you get

independent signals on the 1/4 inch and XLR outputs:

• The 1/4 inch Model output is now carrying your signal – without speaker/ mic/room simulation – to your on-stage power amp and cabinets. This lets you drive your backline for a wall of stadium ﬁlling sound, or a more modest power amp/cab setup for your personal on-stage pleasure.

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• The 1/4 inch Direct output’s level is set by the front panel Volume knob along with the 1/4 inch Model output. (The XLR Direct output is not affected by the Volume knob.)

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• The XLR jacks have been magically transformed into a pair of balanced mic level outputs with ground lift, suitable for plugging into the typical onstage mic snake to feed your monster tones to the house mix or P.A. The Model output’s signal is a specially-tuned speaker simulation that gives you perfect sound without having to hassle with mics on your speaker cabinets – plus the signal bleed and other challenges that come with them. Remember this signal is mic level, so you’ll want to connect it to a mic level (not line level) input on the house mixer or P.A.

• The XLR Direct output’s level is not affected by the front panel Volume knob (unlike the 1/4 inch Direct output).

Live Mode 1/4 inch Output Voicing: In Live Mode you can select the “voicing” of the 1/4 inch jacks to best match the speaker set-up you’ll be using. There are four preset voicings from which to choose:

Setting the Live Mode 1/4 inch Output Voicing

1. Start with Bass POD Pro turned OFF.

2. Press and hold SAVE while powering up.

3. Use the Up/Down Buttons to select a mode:

A Standard Tuning (ideal for well-tuned full range systems; we used Eden and SWR 4x10s with horns as our reference systems for sound deveopment, with horns at 12 o’clock)

B Bass Boost (try this with small-diameter speakers)

C Mid Boost (try this to enhance the mid presence)

D Treble Boost (try this when driving bass-heavy cabs)

4. Press SAVE to conﬁrm.

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Digital Outputs and Clock - Your POD includes connections for both

AES/EBU and S/PDIF format 24 bit digital output. Use these to track your POD direct to your digital input recording system (note that the loop does not affect the digital outputs).

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The External Digital Clock In connector receives a clock signal from your digital mixer or recorder, synchronizing POD’s digital output to your system. POD’s front panel Digital Sync switch determines its output sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz), and whether it will sync its output to the external clock source (in that case, the sample rate syncs to the sample rate of the incoming digital clock).

Please see your digital mixer/recorder documentation for information on conﬁguring its digital clock. The Line 6 technical support crew, though they may be friendly, talented, and always eager to please, won’t be able to instruct you on how to conﬁgure your entire studio worth of new digital recording equipment, and tell you why your digital audio program conﬂicts with your ﬁnancial management software. Nevertheless, we don’t want you ﬂoundering around in there all by yourself, so here are a couple handy tips that should allow you to incorporate your POD in an already-conﬁgured studio:

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Generally, you’re gonna have one of two situations:

• Situation Number Uno – If your digital recorder/mixer has a clock output

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– like on a Digidesign Pro Tools 888, a MOTU 2408, a Yamaha 02R digital mixer, etc. – you will want to make it the clock master (generally called something like “Internal Sync”), and set POD’s Digital Sync switch to External. POD will then derive its sample rate from your recorder/mixer, and output a digital signal perfectly synced to the rest of your system.

• Situation Number Dos – If your system doesn’t have a clock output – like a Digidesign Audiomedia, Digi 001, Digital Audio Labs Card D, etc. – you’ll set POD’s Digital Sync switch to 44.1 or 48 (not External), and set your recorder to sync to its digital input (which is coming from POD).

If you hear a click-click-clicking when you try to make this happen, it generally means POD is outputting a non-synced signal to your system. Time to re-read the two paragraphs above, then contact your recorder/mixer manufacturer’s customer support staff if the situation persists. And don’t forget to check that selector switch to make sure its properly set to output either AES-EBU or SPDIF. Also, note that POD’s digital clock connector is unterminated. If you are hooking POD to equipment which requires a terminated connection, be sure to use a BNC clock terminator.

MIDI In & Out - Connect POD to your MIDI equipment to select channel

memories (via Program Change messages) or automate POD settings (via controllers and/or Sysex). Emagic SoundDiver software is included on the accompanying CD for sound editing/storage on a computer, as well as ToneTransfer access to the sounds from the Line 6 Web Library or other sources. The POD MIDI OUT connects to another device’s MIDI IN; its MIDI IN goes to another device’s MIDI OUT. Please also see Chapter 9, Deep Editing and MIDI Control, to setup your MIDI gear with POD and ﬁnd out what MIDI can do for POD and you.

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